Week 16-17 10/6-10/19

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Alex has been out of town in Battle Creek quite a bit over the past few weeks. It's good that Logan has become more vocal because he can say "hi" to Daddy over the phone. It's still hard though and Alex swears he changes each time he leaves.Last weekend, Grandma Ginny came over on Saturday to babysit and we went downtown Detroit with some friends to watch the Tigers and the U of M/Michigan State game. We ended up hanging out at Cheli's right next to Tigers stadium. It was a lot of fun and the atmosphere was great when the Tigers won. Then on Sunday, we went to baby Tommy's baptism. Tommy is Alex's cousin Tom's baby. Hillary had baby Tommy about 5-6 weeks after we had Logan and baby Tommy already weighs a little more than Logan does. We all went out to Shields afterwards. It was nice to hang out with the family and good to see Tom and Hillary (they live in Connecticut) it's great that the boys are so close in age and I'm sure family get-togethers will be a lot of fun for them in the future. Alex and I started our volleyball leagues a few weeks ago. I play women's on Tuesday nights and he plays men's on Thursdays. Thankfully, his sister Mandy is still living with us. Since Alex has been out of town so much, she has pitched in watching Logan when I go play. It's a great break and it feels good to be able to play. We also play co-ed together on some Wednesdays. Last Wednesday we started our parenting group. It's a group of about 11 families..all of which had their babies at Beaumont Royal Oak and live in the immediate area. It's great because the kids were all born between June 6th-29th. The group meets every other Wednesday from 7-9. There is a guest speaker the first hour and then the second hour is for socializing. It will be great to compare notes with other first time parents and watch all the kids develop. Logan is the only true preemie of the group so it should be interesting to see if he is behind everybody else.Last Saturday we went up to the Stucky's house for their annual turkey fry. They organize all kinds of activities for the kids and have a big bonfire. It was pretty cold outside so Logan stayed inside with Daddy most of the time (I had to twist his arm to watch football and the Tigers:) Then, we went to my parents house to hang out, watch the U of M game and play cards.We're still pretty dead at work, so I have been at home with Logan quite a bit. I must admit that it has been great to be able to spend so much time with him. I am a bit bummed that the weather is turning cold and we won't be able to spend as much time outside. He is developing more each day. He grabs a hold of toys and puts them into his mouth. He can even pull his binky out and put it back in...he doesn't always get it back in the right way, but he's working on it. Here is a really cute picture of him trying to shove the binky and his fist into his mouth at the same time.

Week 13-15 9/16-10/6

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The past few weeks have been pretty busy. The weekend of the 23rd, I played in a women’s queen of the court volleyball tournament at the Stucky’s house. The tourney was a bachelorette tourney for Shannon Gerbe. Alex and Logan came up for the day and hung out watching football.

The following weekend Mandy watched Logan on Saturday night while Alex and I went to the Tiffany awards. It was a dinner/fashion show raising money for breast cancer and honoring Michigan’s top hairdressers. Alex’s work was a top sponsor. They had installed the material handling systems at Nailco’s new facilities. It was actually pretty fun and it was great to meet some of the people that Alex works with. That Sunday we went up to the Ferrell’s so that Alex could do some work on his mom’s computer. Logan has already started to enjoy the wonders of Grandma Ginny’s….she runs a daycare and has TONS of toys. Logan had a great time playing in a bouncer seat for the first time. It was awesome to watch him figure it out and bounce around. You could tell he was proud of himself for making the music and lights go. We also got a chance to go to Past Tense, an old-fashioned store and cider mill with Alex’s parents, Connor and Kyleigh. As usual, Logan slept while Daddy carried him around in the Baby Bjorn. So, he seemed to enjoy it until the following day when the apple cider I drank hit his system…I thought he pooped a lot before!

The following week, Alex had to go to Battle Creek for work. I went to Toledo to hang out with my sister Wednesday through Friday. It was a great surprise for the girls because they didn’t know we were coming ahead of time. We got there after Jessalyn had already gone to school on Wednesday so she didn’t get the surprise until we picked her up at the bus stop later in the afternoon. But, we were able to take Logan and Alyssa to the Toledo zoo. Logan spent most of the afternoon sleeping in the stroller. There’s something about being outside that knocks that kid out! Later that night we went out to dinner for my birthday which was on Thursday. Alyssa had helped make an ice cream birthday cake for me and the girls had a great time singing happy birthday to me. Thursday was pretty hectic—we dropped Jessalyn off at the bus stop, took Alyssa to gymnastics class and then to speech class, went out to lunch, went to the mall…all before 2! I’m glad that we got to go see the gymnastics class…they really focus on helping to develop coordination through tons of fun activities. I really wanted to jump in the foam pit, but I had Logan in the Baby Bjorn; maybe next timeJ Then, I went to Alyssa’s special day at preschool on Friday. Her preschool is cool because the parent’s co-op and all take turns coming in the help out. (hence the kid’s “special day”) I went to one for Jessalyn last year; it’s amazing the difference between the girls and how they react in a school setting. It makes me wonder what Logan’s temperament is going to be when he grows up.

Then, I brought the girls back home with me for the weekend. It was a little crazy having three kids running around the house. Foreshadowing for years to comeJ Saturday we went up to Great Lakes Crossing to meet my mom and Judy (a good family friend) for lunch. The girls had a great time playing in the play structure and Logan enjoyed watching them. Then, we went to the Rainforest Café for lunch. The girls really liked the jungle setting, but the animated gorilla by our table scared Jessalyn right out of her seat at one point. Logan took his first bath with his cousins in the bathtub. Of course we got a few pics….every kid has naked pics in the tubJ Tamie and Arnold were able to hang out and watch football/baseball on Sunday before they had to take the girls home.

It’s amazing how much he has changed just over the past three weeks. He grabs a hold of toys and loves to shake his Pooh rattle. He is also making eye contact quite a bit better. He loves to try to imitate facial expressions and sounds. It’s a great way to keep him entertained in the shopping cart at the store. His little face screws up in concentration and then he tries to mimic whatever he saw or heard. He’s learned how to stick his tongue out (probably not the best thing to teach him, right?:) But, it’s still cute at this point. He likes the toys with lights and sounds and seems to take it all in. He’s learned that hitting the buttons makes everything work. He’s noticing his hands quite a bit more too and loves to try to shove his whole fist in his mouth. It’s so exciting to watch him do new things.